The World Race advertises adventure, and they definitely uphold their end of the bargain. As you may know, Egypt was the next tentative destination of this race. Plans changed, and we were told that we would be having our first ATL of the trip. ATL stands for Ask The Lord. Basically, we pray for God to speak to us about where he would have us go. Crazy, huh? The original parameter was that we would be somewhere in Eastern Europe. Before I tell you more, I’d like to give you a little info on the ATL process.
I was first introduced to this idea during training camp for the World Race. We traveled to the heart of Atlanta to get our feet wet with some hands on ministry with our newly formed teams. These were the directions: Ask God what do- where to go- who to talk to- Be back by 10. Seemed easy enough. We formed a circle and began to pray. We asked God to reveal himself, to guide us in tangible ways. Then came the uneasy part…we listened. We stood there in silence and waited. There was no booming voice from Heaven. No glorious vision in our minds. But there were small things – like pictures, colors, names. We shared what we “got” with the group. Ken was the first to speak up, and he had seen a baby carriage. I’ll be honest, I was quite skeptical. I went along with the process, but I was secretly wondering if I had escaped into the Twilight Zone. It just wasn’t normal. We began to walk and soon come to a hotel. In front of the hotel sits a baby carriage, and it’s obvious that the small child inside was suffering from a physical abnormality. After assuring the parents that we weren’t out of our mind (for the most part), we found out that they were from Birmingham, Alabama and they were leaving the hotel at that very moment to go to a surgical consult for their baby. She had a very severe cleft palet and had to wear an elaborate mouthpiece to even breathe and swallow. We prayed for her and went on our way. Wowzers. There have been so many other confirmations. We did this exercise in Ireland as well. I “got” a lady walking a small dog. Sure enough, we start walking and the first person (the only person on the stretch of highway) is a lady walking a small dog. Her husband was unemployed, so we offered our prayers for her as we continued. There are countless other incredible stories from my fellow racers that would blow you away.
I know all of this sounds like it came out of a sci-fi novel. We aren’t psychics, and we don’t plan on setting up a hotline upon entering back into the States. It was (and still is) so hard to comprehend for me because we live in a world that has replaced the true power of prayer with convenience and comfort. We pray for what we need. We pray for other people. We pray to give God thanks. We even ask God to speak to us…but do we really mean it? Do we actually listen for something real? Real words? Real instructions? Real calling? God continually talked directly to people throughout the Bible. The burning bush, the majestic voice from Heaven, the calling in the night, and the still small voice. We’ve put God in a box that encompasses his supernatural power. God wants to communicate with us today. It’s not just about a warm fluffy feeling that you get because you’re spending your quiet time with the Lord. Being quiet and still in the presence of God and listening firvantly for His voice are not the same.
We began to ATL last week. We didn’t really get specific countries, but we did get common ministry themes for the month. It’s always fun when multiple people on the team receive the same things. Gotta love confirmation. We saw a city and bodies of water. We saw the adult/elderly population…poor, maybe homeless. It’s also neat to receive something you wouldn’t normally choose yourself, because most of us would prefer to work with children. Colby got the name Demetri. Our ATL was narrowed down a little bit Wednesday. We were told that we would be going to Bulgaria, Montenegro, or Albania. I’d like to point out that all three countries border the ocean. After praying again, Albania seemed to be the clear choice. The squad leaders confirmed, so we’ll be heading to Albania tomorrow! The entire month is pretty much an ATL, meaning we’re figuring out as we go. At this point we have no place to live, no set destination, and no ministry contact. The World Race has never had a team here before, so our main focus is paving the way for future racers. We will see what needs there are, who will partner with us, and what the potential is for this country. What an adventure. I’ll try to keep you posted on our progress. Prayers are much appreciated!
